Anthropology of Death

In this course we explore how various cultures think about the role of death in life. Using a variety of anthropological texts and methods (including ethnographic, archaeological and forensic perspectives), we examine the range of experiences that people have with the dead, what people do with and to their dead and the meanings that those experiences have for the living. This course examines the intersections between the social and physical bodies that human beings inhabit and takes a critical perspective on Western medical assumptions about death and dying.